Fables & Folk-Tales from an Eastern Forest

Title

en_US Fables & Folk-Tales from an Eastern Forest

Description

en_US This is a hardbound book (hard cover)

en_US Original language: und

en_US Collected and translated by Walter Skeat

Creator

en_US Skeat, Walter William

Contributor

en_US Townsend, F.H.

Date

2016-01-25T15:47:41Z

en_US 2013-10

en_US 1901

Date Available

2016-01-25T15:47:41Z

Date Issued

en_US 1901

Abstract

en_US This book presents twenty-six good peasant tales collected during a Cambridge expedition through the remoter states of the Malay Peninsula in 1899. A T of C and a list of the ten illustrations precede the introduction at the beginning of the book. The first story, Father 'Lime-Stick' and the Flower-Pecker, is true to the fable tradition. A caught bird promises, if freed, to bring the birdcatcher a valuable stone as big as a coconut. Freed, he mocks the birdcatcher for believing such a preposterous story. The next table echoes another well-known Western fable with changed characters. The crown prince of tigers recommends to the sick king of tigers to taste flesh of every creature in his kingdom. The mouse-deer, who is the hero of many Malaysian folktales, stays away. When he appears and the king is angry with him, he reports a dream of medicine that will cure the king. Seize and devour that which is nearest your majesty. The crown prince tiger is of course closest to the king. The Pelican's Punishment (18) is very close to the Kalila and Dimna story of the crane and the crab. The Tiger Gets His Deserts (20) is the familiar story of a trapped animal first being released, then turning on its savior, and then being tricked back into his trap, in this case a cage. The savior in this story is again a mouse-deer. The Tiger and the Shadow (28) is the familiar story of bringing a large cat to water, where he sees a rival and jumps in to attack him. Regulated sacrifice is part of this tale as it is told here. The ten illustrations are helpful. Even better rendered are the tailpiece silhouettes of Malaysian creatures.

Identifier

en_US 9919 (Access ID)

uri

http://hdl.handle.net/10504/76729

Language

en_US eng

Publisher

en_US Cambridge University Press

en_US Cambridge

Subject

en_US GR315.S4 1901

en_US Malaysia

en_US Title Page Scanned

Type

en_US Book, Whole